A previous protocol had required that patients test negative twice consecutively before being discharged from isolation. The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is an RNA virus and its genetic material can be detected by a real-time PCR -- widely known as the gold standard test.

But as the country deals with the persistent problem of limited testing capacity, patients often have to wait for days and even weeks for their results to come back – meaning they occupy hospital beds or self-isolate for a long period despite no longer showing symptoms.

This raises not only concerns about prolonged hospital stays, which could lead to hospital overcrowding, but also tests being used up on old rather than new cases.

A World Health Organization situation report on Indonesia in July noted that fewer than 60 percent of tests conducted in the country were to detect new cases, while the remainder were for follow-up tests.

The government, on July 13, released the fifth revision of its protocol on COVID-19 mitigation and control, which phased out retesting requirements for asymptomatic, mild and moderate cases -- prompting hopes of greater testing capacity for new cases.

What are the new criteria for isolation discharge?

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